Castro Clone - Concept

Concept

One commenter stated that men dressed in clone style usually possessed a more self-assured attitude about themselves and their sexual orientation. Men could take parts of the appearance that they find attractive and that worked for them. For many men, the look was an outward sign of their freedom from social dicta and a celebration of their personal masculinity. Some fetishize the style while others find it ludicrous, but the appearance was a sign of liberation, countering the homophobic stereotype that generalizes all gay men as sissies (although some of the "nelliest" queens were among the "toughest").

With an influx of young gay people who felt free to express their sexual desires, a culture of idolizing masculinity emerged with rugged working-class men seen as one of the ideals, even if many of those men were actually middle-class professionals.

There was a period when the "clone look" was limited to the Castro District of San Francisco, but that period could not have been more than a few weeks. The emergence of the NYC-based gay monthly magazines in the mid- to late-1970s (such as Mandate, Playguy, and Honcho) had much to do with inspiring the clone look in locations other than the district. The magazines were filled with images of clones, both in feature spreads and advertisements. Gay porn films of the era also advanced the look.

The look continued to evolve through the 1980s and beyond, effectively influencing the rise of the bear culture, which expanded on the concept, converting mustaches to beards, emphasizing masculine body language as well as appearance, and embracing ex-footballer husky-to-chubby physiques. This contrasted with the more common subcultural spin-off of the Castro clone phenomenon, the twink evolution which led to the slightly more sleek gym-and-diet-induced, slim musculature prized among gay urban men beginning in the 1980s.